


cover me with kisses, baby

by stefonzolesky



Series: how to fall in love [2]
Category: Ghostbusters (Movies 1984-1989)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 12:10:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18343421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stefonzolesky/pseuds/stefonzolesky
Summary: ask and ye shall receive! this is now a series! thank you very much!





	cover me with kisses, baby

Ray is pretty sure he knows how to be subtle. It can’t really be that hard, he thinks, sitting on the bed watching Egon adjust his sweater vest. He smiles to himself. 

Being subtle is worth it.

He had taken the liberty of telling a few lies to Peter a week earlier, just to keep him out of their business.

“No, Egon and I aren’t dating,” He had said.

“No, he doesn’t like me like that,” He had said.

“No, Peter, I don’t need you to talk to him,” He had said.

The third one had been true. The last thing Ray needed was Peter talking to Egon about giving him a shot.

“You don’t feel bad about lying to Peter like this?” He asks Egon. “I mean, he’s my best friend.  _ Our _ best friend.”

Egon shrugs, taking a seat on the end of the bed. Ray slinks up behind him, hooking his chin on Egon’s shoulder and snaking his arms around his boyfriend's waist.

“If he were more observant, maybe he would have figured it out by now,” Egon says. “It isn’t our fault that he’s so caught up in himself.”

“He offered to talk to you for me.” Ray leans over to press a kiss to Egon’s cheek. “You know, sell you on me.”

Egon pries Ray off of him lightly and stands up. “As if you need any selling.”

“I do it all myself,” Ray says, face lighting up in a grin. “The teasing would be relentless, if he knew.”

Egon glances down the stairs. “He and Winston are probably waiting on us.”

Ray nods. He hops up, smoothing out his jeans, and grabs his leather jacket from beside the bed. “If Peter makes us get Greek food again, I’ll be sick. I love Greek food as much as the next guy, but this is just… too much of a good thing.”

Egon nods in agreement. He gives Ray a quick peck on the cheek -- as much as he ever initiates on his own -- and heads down the stairs. Ray watches him go, and then decides to slide down the pole instead.

 

+

 

Ray is beyond relieved that Peter doesn’t pick the Greek place. He chooses some Italian restaurant a few streets over. 

It’s a date restaurant, Ray realizes, and Peter is smiling way too wide. Ray and Egon exchange a glance -- this doesn’t bode well.

Peter doesn’t bother to sit down at the table, slapping a few hundred dollar bills down. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” He says, his smile going sly.

Winston blinks and adds an unsure, “Me too.”

“Fuckers,” Ray swears, but they’re both already gone. He looks at Egon, eyes wide. “They set us up on a date.”

“It’s only fair,” Egon says. He takes a seat at the table -- a table for two, Ray notes, which is something he hadn’t noticed immediately. “We  _ are _ hiding things from them. Lying about important things. If they knew...”

Ray considers that. “Do you want to tell them?”

Egon shakes his head.

Ray sits down, hesitant and careful. “I think a week and a half into a relationship is as good a time as any for a first date.”

Egon nods slowly. Ray scans the restaurant, eyes settling on a man in a hat and sunglasses. “Excuse me a moment,” He says, standing to approach the man, sure that it’s Peter.

“Venkman,” He says, tearing the hat off of his friend’s head. “If you’re going to pull something like this, you can’t stay to see how it turns out.”

“Not fair,” Peter whines. “I’m doing you a favor here.”

“And I told you I didn’t want any favors.” Ray grabs the neck of Peter’s shirt and pulls him up. “Out.”

“But --”

_ “Out.” _

Peter sighs, defeated, and Ray watches him trudge towards the exit before he returns to his seat across from Egon.

“So…” He says quietly, teeth tugging on his lower lip. “A date.”

“A date,” Egon echoes. “Yes. Of course. A date.”

He drums his fingers rhythmically on the table, and Ray can practically see the nerves coursing through his body.

“Egie,” He says softly, reaching across the table to place his hand lightly over Egon’s. “Relax. You’re okay.”

The fact that Egon visibly relaxes at that speaks volumes, in Ray’s opinion.

Getting into a relationship with Egon is like walking on eggshells, he’s found. Because, while Ray has always been very open and honest, it’s hard to tell what kinds of thoughts are going through Egon’s head. And while Ray is very affectionate, and wants to be touching Egon all the time -- whether it be holding hands, kissing, or just sitting next to him, against him. -- Egon doesn’t like to initiate.

That’s not to say that he can’t tell that Egon likes it. Egon has always been vocal about things that make him uncomfortable, which Ray is eternally thankful for. The last thing he wants is to make Egon uncomfortable.

“We can leave,” He finally says. “If you want to.”

“I want to stay,” Egon insists. “I mean, if you want to. I’d rather not hold you back. What kind of boyfriend would I be if we didn’t go on dates, or spend time together or anything?”

“We spend time together,” Ray promises. “We can stay if you want to. We can go back to the firehouse if you want to. If you’d prefer to settle down and watch a movie,  _ in private…”  _ He trails off. “I know you don’t love social situations, and I know that Peter really sprung this on us.”

Egon looks relieved almost immediately. “Yeah,” He says, nodding frantically. “Yeah, I want to go back. I’m sorry.”

Ray smiles a little. “It’s okay, Spengs. Don’t be sorry.”

He stands up, pocketing the three hundred Peter left on the table before he leaves. Egon follows him quietly, but he’s walking too slow, and Ray can hear his shoes scuffing against the sidewalk once they get outside.

He falls back so they’re standing next to each other.

“You don’t have to feel so bad,” He promises, dropping his arm so the back of his hand brushes against Egon’s, just close enough to where, if he wanted to…

Egon takes the bait. He shifts his hand, catching Ray’s fingers in his own.

“I know. But that doesn’t stop me from feeling bad. I know you like all that… normal couple stuff.”

“But we’re not a normal couple,” Ray interjects. Egon furrows his eyebrows. “Not because we’re both guys. Because we’re parapsychologists, we’re Ghostbusters, and we’re friends with Peter Venkman. With the kind of shit we deal with, we’ll never be a normal couple. And that’s  _ fine.  _ Egie, I get that you like planning, you like schedules, and you don’t like when anxiety inducing situations are sprung on you like that. I know you, and I  _ love _ you. So, it’s okay. We’ll do it another time. And you’ll know, so you aren’t thrust into an uncomfortable scenario.”

Egon tightens his grip on Ray’s hand, but the rest of him seems to relax as much as he probably can. Ray smiles, and in that moment all he can think about is how much he wants to kiss his boyfriend.

 

+

 

Egon retreats into the lab as soon as they get back to the firehouse. It’s pretty predictable. 

Peter is laying back and watching a movie, a bowl of popcorn in his lap. He doesn’t bother to look up when Ray sits down next to him.

“You’re back,” He says. “Did you and Spengs finally get it on?”

“We left pretty much immediately,” Ray explains. “We walked back. And, no, you’re not getting your money back. You made him uncomfortable and you didn’t leave us a car.”

“I thought you’d pay for a cab with the  _ three hundred dollars _ I left you two for dinner,” Peter protests. “Give it back, Stantz, or I swear to God.”

“Will you be leaving soon?” Ray asks him, giving an innocent smile.

Peter evidently realizes that getting his money back is a lost cause. He deflates. “I’ll get out of your hair in a little, don’t worry. You’ll be able to go back to being all moony-eyed over Spengler without me in the way soon enough.”

Ray rolls his eyes, but he feels a blush settle high in his cheeks.

Peter puts down the bowl of popcorn.

“Alright,” He says. “Alright, I’m out.”

“See you later, Venkman,” Ray says. He watches Peter leave, and relaxes against the couch as soon as he’s gone.

 

+

 

A few more weeks pass like that. Eventually, Peter gives up trying to set Ray and Egon up, because it’s obvious that he’s not being helpful and Ray keeps stealing money from him when he tries. 

“Gonna take you somewhere nice,” Ray explains one night, when Egon asks what he’s going to do with all that money Peter keeps leaving around for them to go on dates. “Real nice. Once you’re ready and comfortable.”

But after a month or so, business starts to pick up again. A lot. Peter and Winston start staying nights at the firehouse again, just in case. Egon and Ray have to resort back to separate twin beds, rather than the one they’d been managing to squeeze themselves into for the last month.

Ray misses the way Egon’s legs felt tangled around his own. While Egon never really initiated contact during the day, around the firehouse, he was much more comfortable wrapping himself around Ray like a koala.

He rolls over in bed and stares at Egon’s twin bed across the room, Venkman snoring softly in between them. He sighs and bites down on his bottom lip, carefully sliding out of bed and making sure not to wake up the other guys. 

“Egie,” He whispers, watching Egon stir quietly. “Egie, move over.”

Egon blinks awake, yawning softly. “Ray? Is everything alright?”

Ray quickly puts a finger to his lips.

“I can’t sleep,” He whispers.

Egon nods in understanding, shifting enough to let Ray curl up next to him. He drapes an arm over Ray and buries his face in the back of Ray’s neck.

“It’s gonna be hard,” Ray mumbles.

“If you stay here all night, they’ll catch on.”

Ray nods. He twists so that he’s facing Egon and their noses are touching.

“You wake up early,” He says softly. “Just wake me up, I’ll get back in my bed.”

Egon nods, studying Ray’s face. Ray leans forward and presses a kiss to Egon’s lips.

“It’s only been a month, and I already can’t sleep without you there,” Ray mumbles, snickering softly. “I wonder what that says about me.”

“That you latch on easily,” Egon mutters back. “You don’t want to let me go, you trust really easily, and you feel safer around me.”

Ray nods. He shifts down, burying his face in Egon’s neck, and yawns. “Night, Egie.”

Egon kisses the top of his head. “Goodnight, Ray.”

 

+

 

Ray is incredibly lucky that Egon puts himself on a strict schedule as often as he can, because as it turns out, Peter has early morning plans the next day. Egon wakes Ray up about ten minutes before Peter yanks himself out of bed.

Ray isn’t actually tired, though, so he doesn’t bother to change out of his pajamas and follows Peter into the kitchen.

“You going out?” He asks, shoving two pieces of toast into the toaster.

“Dana wants to get breakfast,” Peter explains.

Ray wiggles his eyebrows. “Look at you, Mr Domestic. Is Winston still here?”

“He’s visiting family,” Peter says. Ray’s gut twists at the idea that maybe Winston knows about him and Egon, but he shakes it off. After all, they’ll have the firehouse to themselves today.

Just as the toaster dings, Egon comes down from the lab.

“Right on time,” He says, handing Egon a piece of toast. “Anything interesting going on up there?”

“Not really,” Egon admits. He nibbles on the piece of toast. “I’ll be sure to let you know, though.”

Peter blinks.

“Okay,” He says. “I’m leaving. Try not to have too much fun, okay?”

“Alright,” Ray says, but he knows he’s lying. He watches Egon rub at still sleep-filled eyes and smiles.

As soon as Peter is out the door, Ray is on Egon’s lips, pulling him close by his collar. Egon makes a noise in surprise.

“I’ve been waiting to do that for so long,” Ray admits breathily, once the kiss breaks. He hops up onto the counter, letting his feet dangle. “We haven’t had any time, we’ve been so busy.”

_ “I know,”  _ Egon says, sounding desperate. Ray cups Egon’s cheek and pulls him into another kiss, and he’s never felt this needy before. Egon grins into his mouth. “I’ve missed this.”

“You have no idea,” Ray mutters, letting his legs hook lightly around Egon’s waist and kissing him again.

“No fucking way,” someone says. Ray drops his legs. He and Egon both whip around to stare at the doorway -- Peter. He holds up a jacket. “I forgot something.”

“God damn it,” Ray swears under his breath. “I’m sorry, Egie, I couldn’t --”

“How long has this been going on?” Peter interrupts. “You let me waste all this time and effort and  _ money _ on you, all the while… Are you fucking kidding me? You couldn’t have mentioned it?”

“We’ve been dating for a month,” Ray admits meekly. “We didn’t tell you because we knew you’d --”

“So, how’s it going? How’s the sex? Can I have my money back?”

“Fine, not saying, and absolutely not,” Egon says. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Fuck,” Peter swears. “You guys aren’t off the hook for this, okay? I’m still super pissed.”

As soon as Peter leaves again, an uncomfortable laugh bubbles out of Ray’s lips.

“So,” He says. “Peter knows.”

Egon nods and echoes him. “Peter knows.”

“Feel good about it?”

“Not really.”

Ray nods slowly, biting down on his lower lip. “Yeah, me neither. But it’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure it will be.”

Egon blinks. His glasses slide down his nose again. He looks like he wants to say something.

“You okay?” Ray asks, cocking his head a little.

“We were in the middle of something,” Egon explains, a blush settling high in his cheeks. “I’d like to get back to it, if you don’t mind.”

Ray laughs, a full-bodied laugh, presses a quick kiss to Egon’s lips, and says, “Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> ask and ye shall receive! this is now a series! thank you very much!


End file.
